The Perks and Problems of being an Angel during the Apocalypse
by herk227
Summary: Angels were never meant to be alone, they were gregarious creatures. And sometimes the only one to really understand an angel is another one. No matter how different they were, the fact remained that Castiel and Gabriel were brothers. Later chapters will include other characters, but the main focus will be Gabe-Cas friendship.
1. Chapter 1

Castiel stood outside the warehouse and watched the Winchesters drive away. He was still in shock after finding out about Gabriel. The archangel who wasn't among the fallen but hadn't been seen in heaven for over a millennium. The lower ranks never were told about it, but Castiel had seen Raphael's face when his brother was mentioned and was pretty sure that Gabriel was considered 'missing' by his brothers rather than just away on behalf of their father's command.

To now find him here disguised as a pagan demi-god, as a trickster, had shaken the younger angel to the core.

_Castiel found himself thrown out of the elaborate illusion that had trapped the Winchesters. This shouldn't have happened. The world had been strange and colorful and artificial and no part of that illusion should have had the power to banish an angel of the Lord. Yet here he was in the empty warehouse, alone, searching for a way back in. No – his senses told him – that he searched for a way out. The empty warehouse was another reality pocket, a prison just for him. His mind was racing through the possibilities, either his being cut-off from Heaven had weakened him more and faster than expected or whoever was behind this attack on his human friends was way more powerful than he should be. _

_When Bobby had asked him to check on Sam and Dean he had talked about a Trickster. Castiel had met Tricksters. None of them would have been powerful enough to do this to him. He probed and prodded at the reality around him. He could sense the pocket dimension that had thrown him out closed off tighter than before. Yet he couldn't give up – not with the Winchesters still held in there at the mercy of whatever had trapped them._

_When he found a crack he barely managed to squeeze through and again he was in a world far too colorful, far too bright and even more artificial and somehow flatter than the last time._

_He knew that he didn't have much time. He tried to warn them. And then the 'Trickster' entered. Castiel had never seen the vessel before, but here in his own little playground the being inside it obviously wasn't all that careful with hiding his true visage from those who could see. Gabriel's grace nearly blinded Castiel's senses as it appeared so unexpected before him. He wanted to greet his brother but found himself unable to do so. His voice silenced by Gabriel's power and a piece of duct tape. Within the blink of an eye he was alone again, trapped in a small room bound to a chair._

_A couple of moments/an eternity later Gabriel appeared before him. _

"_Hello Castiel."_

_The younger angel glared at the older above the edge of the tape._

"_Oh – yeah, sorry about that." With a wave of a hand the duct tape disappeared. Cas was still bound to the chair but at least able to talk._

"_What is going on here?"_

"_I need to teach those two boneheads a little lesson. I'm afraid you would only get in the way there, Cas. So be a good boy and just wait it out – OK?" Gabriel patted his cheek. "Might take a bit since they are as thickheaded as mules, but eventually they will get my point. I'm afraid I can't take the bonds away or you might try to do something stupid, but as long as you don't struggle you shouldn't be too uncomfortable." A thoughtful expression crossed his face and he snapped his fingers. "A little bit of company should sweeten your waiting time."_

_Two beautiful, curvy and very scantily clad woman appeared at Castiel's sides and began to stroke his chest and caress his body. He had never felt so uncomfortable in his existence._

_Seeing how Castiel stiffened, Gabriel began to chuckle. "Really?"_

"_Could you – please?" Cas' teeth were clenched._

_The archangel shook his head. "Your choice, boyo." And with a snap of his fingers the two women disappeared. "Just relax and don't struggle, kid." Gabriel leaned back against one of the 'walls' of this place. "So you're helping those two in their quest to kill the Devil?"_

"_No. I'm following my own plan."_

_That piqued the older one's curiosity. "And what's that? What is your brilliant angelic plan to stop this mess?"_

"_I'm going to find our father. He is the only one with the power to stop this."_

_Gabriel opened his mouth to say something, when he suddenly paused, listening to something only he could hear, and disappeared._

_The moment Gabriel vanished, Cas of course began to fight against his restrains._

"So what now?"

Castiel turned towards his brother, surprised he was still here. "They will continue their search and I will continue mine."

His fight with Dean seemed to have taken his toll on Gabriel, he was almost subdued. "It's been quite a while since I've last met family. – Look I know we started this on the wrong foot but how about a ceasefire?"

After his recent experience Castiel was weary of his older brother. But it was quite the temptation.

"I won't banish, bind or gag you without your consent. And you can ask all those questions that are burning you up. I don't promise I will answer them though."

"What about the women?"

The archangel chuckled again "No women, alcohol, chocolate or other worldly temptations that might make you enjoy yourself. Scout's honor."

Angels were not meant to be on their own. They were always part of a squad, a garrison and of course the heavenly host. They seldom traveled alone but at least in pairs of two, so they could take comfort in each others presence. And when circumstances demanded that they complete a task on their own it was never for long and they were granted a recuperation period in Heaven. That was one of the reasons, why Uriel's death had hit Castiel hard, even though the other had turned from their father. That was the main reason, why he had been initially glad of Zachariah's arrival, despite everything it had meant for him. That was why he still to this day sometimes regretted the path he'd taken. He could only imagine how much harder it must have been for Gabriel – cut off from his brethren for centuries and centuries.

Castiel nodded slightly agreeing to at least temporal peace.

Gabriel's smile was like the sun and an unmistakable ripple of joy went through his – carefully concealed – grace.

"Well come on then, lil' bro."

Gabriel took a step and was standing in a park in front of a bench. He didn't drag Castiel along but allowed his brother to follow him. It was a peaceful, serene place, the kind of place Gabriel imagined Castiel would like. Judging by the younger angel's slight relaxation, it seemed as if he was right. He sprawled himself on the park bench looking expectantly at Cas. Interesting sight really – the younger one hadn't even begun to learn to keep his grace concealed, to keep himself hidden from prying eyes. Sure he wasn't an archangel so his grace wasn't the same kind of bonfire to heavenly seekers and consequently his need wasn't as great as Gabriel's but it also meant that anyone with the right senses could tell exactly what was going on in the young one's soul in these moments of turmoil.

"You … haven't fallen."

"Nope – why should I?"

"You left Heaven."

"Cas, Cas, Cas. There are only two ways for an angel to truly fall: Either Daddy kicks you out – which he never did, or you rip out your own grace – and I'm simply not enough of a self-flagellating masochist to do something so enormously stupid. I left Heaven, I cut my ties but I never fought my brothers and I never disobeyed one of father's orders – when he still used to give them. I'm one of the good guys, Castiel."

And then they just talked for a while. Both able to unburden themselves to someone who understood. Cas telling about his journey from first hearing about Dean Winchester to the point where he trusted the human's judgment more than that of his superiors. About his fight at their side against his brethren. About his hope of finding their father. Gabriel on the other hand told his brother of his years in exile, about the wonders this world and humanity had to offer, about the fun he'd had. Yet all that was tinted with sadness, because he'd been cut off from his family and now even more so because it would end all too soon.

"Will you help us?"

Gabriel lowered his gaze. He had shouted and raged at the Winchesters, when they had asked him the same question but there was no blame to put on his younger brother. There wasn't even demand in his voice, just the simple question and maybe a plea for help from an elder. He should be a protector after all.

"I can't. I've tried to keep Lucifer from falling. I've tried to reason with Michael. They're all so goddamn stubborn and aeons apart have only hardened their hearts. Lucy is a spoiled brat and Mike a self-righteous ass and I definitely won't pick any side in this." He turned to look at Castiel. "We all follow our own paths, Cas. Sammy and Deano by trying to kill our brother, you by searching for Daddy and me … I will have to find my own way in this muddled mess of our little family quarrel."

Cas nodded his understanding. Then his phone rang. It was Dean Winchester's number

"I have to go."

"Sure – and Cas, good luck on your quest, I hope you're successful."

Castiel furrowed his brow. "I thought you didn't believe in my chances of success."

"I don't. And if you were successful, then I'd probably be in a world of trouble. Still – Good Luck."

"Thank you." And with those words the younger angel vanished.

Hours later Castiel found a small piece of paper in the pocket of his trench coat. It had the name and address of some club as well as a few words scribbled on them in what he supposed was Gabriel's handwriting: 'If you ever need to contact me, ask after Nancy' Cas smiled and put it away for safe-keeping.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: This chapter takes place right after 5.13 The song remains the same

Returning from the past had taken its toll from Castiel. He had made it if barely but even now he felt like crap. And he doubted that it was just because of the time traveling. Even talking to Dean hadn't helped and now the Winchesters were asleep and Castiel couldn't find what little comfort there was in their company. So he decided to take a little trip.

The club was a more a less classy joint, as far as the angel could tell. It was far quieter than anything Dean had ever dragged him to, the place was cleaner and the furniture of better quality, which was a nice surprise. Castiel made his way to the bar to talk to the man behind it.

"What can I get you, Sir?"

"I was told to ask for 'Nancy'."

The bartender's face changed from cool professionalism to honest friendliness. "Someone who knows what he wants and has taste. Here, on the house." He poured him a whiskey. "I'll go get her."

Castiel took a sip of the – very mild – liquid and looked around. Something about this place seemed almost otherworldly, yet he couldn't make out any direct supernatural influences.

"Hello, sugar," a voice smooth as honey called out next to him.

As Castiel turned he came face to face with a beautiful, black woman. She stood taller than him, without the benefits of high heels and she held herself gracefully. Her dress was bright red and complimented her form without revealing too much. She should have drawn all eyes in the room yet no one seemed to notice her. Castiel stopped to wonder what was so odd about this place. It clearly had been the hand of the goddess before him, even if she had just used mortal means to achieve the effect.

"You are …" Castiel started.

"I know what I am Sweety. And I know what you are." She sat down on the bar stool next to him. "So what can I do for you?"

"I was told to come here and ask after you, if I needed to get hold of – a friend."

The smile she threw in his direction had a certain wicked gleam. "Gab gave you this address? He usually prefers some of my less shiny waterholes to have meetings." She pinched Castiel's buttock as she told him: "It seems he really wants to impress you."

Somehow Castiel pictured this woman before him in ragged clothes in some backroom joint hustling people at pool or robbing them blind at the poker table and he knew she wouldn't be out of place there anymore than she was right now here at this classy establishment.

She pulled out a cell phone and dialed per speed calling.

"Hey, bro." Gabriel appeared behind him as Nancy put her phone away again.

Castiel couldn't even describe how relieved that voice made him feel, no matter how annoyingly nonchalant it was. The ebony skinned pagan goddess embraced his brother.

"Gab – you old scoundrel. I don't see you for 20 years and then you drop your kid brother on my doorstep? What kind of way is that to treat a Lady?"

The archangel let himself drop on another bar stool. In passing his hand shortly graced Castiel's back, giving him reassurance that all was well.

"Lady?" He snorted. "I do remember when you wore that short, balding guy with the bend legs, so stuff it. And what's a decade or two between friends, hm?" Obviously not very much since the bartender already had a glass with some chocolate liquor ready for him. Gabriel took a sip and smiled in appreciation. "Good stuff."

Nancy shook her head smilingly. "I'll leave you two to it. But you better not just disappear again, there's a game of 4 shells going on in the backroom tonight," she added to the archangel before leaving.

Gabriel downed the rest of his liquor and turned to leave. "Are you coming, kiddo?"

Castiel followed his brother out into the mild night air. The building they had just left was sitting in the middle of some field a couple of miles from a small town. The archangel took a deep breath, tasting the clean and sweet air. "So what happened?"

"Anna's dead."

Gabriel furrowed his brow. "The 'commander-of-your-garrison-Anna'?"

The younger one nodded.

"I'm sorry, Cas."

For a while they stood in companionable silence. And Castiel felt relief flooding through him, because no matter how close he felt to Sam and Dean, something like this – they didn't get it. Anna was nothing more to them than an ungrateful bitch, who repaid the fact that they had faced angels and demons on her behalf by trying to erase their existence. Dean didn't see the bigger picture, he felt betrayed by a woman he had slept with.

Castiel had known Anna for his whole existence, she had been his sister and his superior for most of his life. He had been shocked to his core when she left heaven, but eventually he had followed in her footsteps even if it was for his own reasons. Anna had saved his life by killing Uriel and had saved him, when she refused to tell him what to do, forcing him to make his own decisions. There were angels that Cas had felt closer to, but not many, and none since his own rebellion.

He couldn't even blame her for her attempt on Sam's life, because like her, he was trained to look at the larger picture. It had been necessary to stop her in Castiel's opinion, but that didn't mean that he didn't regret her death.

Just when he felt ready to talk about it, Gabriel asked: "How did she die?"

"Michael killed her 32 years ago."

The archangel turned to really look at him. "You went there and back again without your connection to heaven? I have to say I'm quite impressed, Cas. Mostly with your stubborn idiocy, but nevertheless."

"I took the Winchesters with me."

"You moron. One passenger in your situation would have been reckless, two's downright suicidal." The archangel didn't sound too pleased with him right now.

"It was unpleasant," Castiel admitted "but necessary."

Gabriel lifted his hand and two of his fingers lightly touched the younger one's forehead with healing light. "What made it necessary?"

As the energy flowed through him, Castiel's headache finally began to ebb away. "Anna wanted to kill Mary and John before Dean and Sam were born."

"Stopping the apocalypse." Gabriel shook his head "Good idea, but lousy execution. Didn't you tell me Deano and Sammy saved her from both the forces of Heaven and Hell? Without those two, she wouldn't have been alive, to go back in time. I bet she didn't take measures to counteract the paradox. And of course Michael wouldn't stand idly by if she attacked the bloodline of his vessel. No one messes with Mickey's toys."

He took a few steps towards a small wall and took a seat. Since his vessels was a bit on the short side by modern standards he had to make a little hop and now his feet were dangling in the air. It was that moment that Castiel realized one major difference between Gabriel and his three brothers. They were all angels and knew that the form of the vessel didn't say anything about their power, that it was completely inconsequential as long as it could hold their essence. And yet he couldn't imagine Michael or Raphael in a vessel like this, being at ease. Having to hop to take a seat, having your feet dangling in the air was – undignified. Michael or Raphael would have kept walking or standing. But Gabriel just didn't care, he wanted to sit and didn't give a crap what someone else might think about dignity. Castiel leaned against the wall next to him.

"So, did you hear her die?" Gabriel's gaze searched the sky.

"I was lying on a bed still recovering from my journey, when I heard her death-call. No one else could perceive it, since she was out of synch with all our brothers and sisters. She died in agony."

"But not alone. That's the best we can hope for in the end, isn't it – not to go alone and unmourned."

"I wronged her in life, I betrayed her to Heaven. And I was ready to kill her to stop her from killing Sam."

Gabriel nodded to that admission. "The second one's not exactly condemnable – although Sam's death would have made everyone's life far easier."

Cas' eyes narrowed at that statement.

"Just calling it as I see it, kiddo. Don't get your feather's all ruffled." Simultaneously to the words, Gabriel's fingers picked at Castiel's wings, invisible as they might have been to the human eye, teasing his younger brother.

"And the first one?"

"Everyone makes mistakes. It's the price you pay for making decisions."

Gabriel tried to keep it noncommittal, but the growing tension of living feathers beneath his fingers told him, that his brother needed something else from him. He took the younger one's chin in his hand and forced him to look him in the face. "You are going to remember her – everything that she was, at her best and at her worst. You're the only one who can do that, since you knew her up there and down here and you are the only one that sees her fall as the liberation it was instead of as a failure. You will remember her bravery in battle, her passion for life and her pain as she died. You will remember that she was flawed like the best of us and that you didn't always do her right. That's going to be your penance for betraying her Castiel: you will always remember and maybe it will help you to avoid making the same mistake again."

Gabriel hated doing this, to fall back from the Trickster he had become, back into his role as an archangel. Even back in the days he hadn't liked being the stern one, he'd gladly left that position to Raphael or Michael. But it obviously was what Cas had needed.

His "I will" sounded suspiciously like a 'thank you'.


	3. Chapter 3

author's note: This takes place between episodes, starting after "The song remains the same" and ending right after "Dead mean don't wear plaid". It's a bit shorter than the first two, but the next one will be longer again.

After Anna Gabriel decided that it would be better if he kept an eye on his little brother. Not that he was obsessive about it, but Anna's death meant that Castiel had no one besides himself (the Winchesters didn't count for obvious reasons). And although Gabriel had just reacquainted himself with his brother it was pretty clear to him, that the younger tended to get himself into trouble. It wasn't just the fact that he'd rebelled and was stuck on earth for the time being, that was just a symptom. Castiel got himself _involved_ and in Gabriel's experience that was seldom a good thing.

So he dropped in from time to time, making sure that everything was OK.

The first time he kept himself out of sight. He didn't want to spy on Cas, but he was cautious. He had no desire for Sammy or Deano to see him, they wouldn't understand. And he wasn't in the mood for a pissing contest with the older Winchester.

That time everything seemed to be OK. Castiel sat in a diner with Sam and Dean. He didn't participate in the eating and drinking nor did he share in their jokes, but he still looked like he belonged there. Gabriel had to admit that maybe the Winchesters did count – a little bit.

The second time he found Cas sitting on a bench, watching a motel room from afar. He saw no need to keep his presence secret and walked over, sitting himself next to his brother.

"Gabriel."

"And hello to you, too, kiddo." He leisurely sprawled his arms over the back of the bench. "What are you up to these days?"

The look of confusion on Cas' face was kind of cute, Gabriel decided. It also stung a little bit, that his brother was so surprised by him dropping in, but the archangel decided to ignore it.

"I'm still trying to find our father."

"In that motel?"

The mocking tone irritated Castiel. "My last lead has proven to be another dead end. I'm thinking about possibilities how to continue."

But Gabriel wasn't ready to let it drop. "In front of a motel."

"I can think anywhere. I might as well keep an eye on them."

"You really care about these two."

"I share a bond with Dean, he wears my mark. And they are both good men."

"Well I can't argue the mark part."

There was a short pause. Castiel wasn't too familiar with human behavior and reading between the lines, but his brother had adapted over the centuries and communicated mostly in the same irritatingly indirect way people did. He was sure that Gabriel expected a reaction out of him, yet he wasn't certain if he wanted to give it. On the other hand silence wouldn't gain him anything, as long as Gabriel was here, he wouldn't be able to contemplate his options in peace.

"But?"

"I'm not so sure about the good part. They did start this whole mess because of their egoistical self-absorbed behavior and their unhealthy fixation on each other." Gabriel explained.

A flare of anger rippled through Castiel's grace, clearly visible to his brother. And yet the younger angel kept his control.

"I was told by a wise being once, that making mistakes was the price one has to pay for making decisions."

Gabriel's eyes widened a bit in surprise and a small smile showed on his lips. "So you did listen." He leaned forward, elbows on knees and watched the motel room the Winchesters were staying in. He was the first to admit, that he had made his share of mistakes. In quiet moments he even wondered if leaving had been one, too. And if he was honest with himself he knew that he envied Sam and Dean their special bond, no matter how dangerous it had proven to be to those around them. He was honestly glad that Cas hadn't taken his bait and started a fight.

They sat for a couple of minutes before Gabriel spoke up again.

"Did anyone ever look for me?" He tried to keep the vulnerability out of his voice, but wasn't completely successful.

"I don't know. If they did, word never reached the lower ranks."

"You mean I've been gone for over a millennium and no one noticed?"

"In all that time I have spoken to Michael two times and seen him four more. Similar can be said for Raphael. I think most foot soldiers still think you away on a mission, if they even think about it at all."

Gabriel sighed. He didn't want to be found, but it would have been nice to know that Michael or Raphael cared.

"We used to interact more with you kids, teach and guide you."

"I remember," Castiel admitted, "but times have changed. The longer it's been since our father spoke to us, the more rigid the hierarchy and discipline grew. And it's been worse since you left." The younger angel looked towards the window of the motel room, where Dean Winchester's silhouette could be seen walking over to the bed. "Sometimes I wonder if there's any joy left in heaven."

"Well you know, Cas, if there's one thing I know, it's that Daddy never intended for our existence to be joyless. So screw those idiots."

Cas felt a warmth flowing through him at those words and the comforting touch of the archangel as Gabriel squeezed his knee reassuringly.

"Have you tried the Moerae? They're not strictly speaking our team, but they are very old and very wise."

Castiel smiled at his brother and zapped out.

The third time Gabriel visited he found Castiel near the home of a certain Bobby Singer. They stood at the graveyard in Sioux Falls in companionable silence.

"If Lucy got _him_ involved. We're in deep trouble."

Castiel didn't deign this worth an answer.


	4. Chapter 4

author's note: This takes place after "Dark Side of the Moon", it starts with Dean and Sam, but Gabriel will appear later, don't worry ;) This is the longest chapter in this story and it gets pretty intense

* * *

After Joshua Dean felt like shit. For a long time he had refrained from putting his hope into a god, that he wasn't sure he could count on. But after the Colt had failed, after Jo and Ellen died for nothing, without any hint on what might be able to kill Lucifer and stop the Apocalypse, he hadn't known what else to do. So he'd allowed himself a tiny bit of hope in Castiel's insane plan. Only to have it smashed of course. But Dean was strong – he could go on even without hope if the need arose. It would take a bit of adjustment but he would cope.

The same couldn't necessarily be said for Castiel though. The angel hadn't just turned towards god as a last resort, after everything else had failed. God had always been the center of Castiel's existence. As long as he'd just been out of contact, the angel could go on believing in his father, could believe, that everything would be fine, once Daddy was home. It was hard learning that your father wasn't the perfect, loving protector you'd made him out to be. Growing up always was.

Dean had tried to be there for Cas, but the angel had ignored his offer to help and had disappeared. Sam thought that Castiel probably needed a bit of space and time to deal with this and Dean for once listened. He waited 2 whole days before he tried to call Castiel's cell. When the angel neither answered his phone nor called him back within 24 hours, Dean was beyond just 'a bit' worried and decided to undertake steps.

He remembered how Cas had told him about contacting Gabriel once, using a Trickster as contact.

"Bobby, its Dean. I need your help."

"And what's new, boy? What do you need?"

Just hearing that familiar, gruff voice, took a bit of tension out of Dean. It was good to have people you could count on no matter what. "Have you ever heard of some Trickster going by the name of Nancy?"

"Don't tell me you somehow got into trouble with her? I always heard she was quite reasonable, you know almost a model citizen."

"No, no trouble – we just need to contact her. A model citizen, really?"

"The name's Anansi. She or he – seems to change every couple of decades whenever she's bored – is an African deity. Sometimes called Spider in the old legends, you know like the natives have Coyote. I don't know when exactly she came over here, but I know from a couple of run-ins she had with hunters over the last 30 or so years. It never got ugly. Apparently she's a Trickster who doesn't believe in killing humans. She makes fun of us – sure enough – and she might rob you blind at the poker table only to spend it all on booze and chocolate, but obviously she doesn't think deaths entertaining. When she runs into a fanatic she prefers to just ditch the place and the face and start anew."

"Wow – that is a model citizen." Dean was actually impressed, he usually only ran into deities who thought humans a tasty snack. Although come to think of it that might just be a perk of his job. "So how do we find her?"

"You'd have to ask Rufus on that, boy. He's the last person I know, who had a run in with her. Told me once when we were both so drunk out of our asses that he probably thinks I've forgotten all about it. Made me swear not to hunt 'that lady' down, too."

"Thanks Bobby."

"Don't mention it. Just keep your asses out of trouble for once."

"I'll try."

"'Try' my ass."

"Bye Bobby."

His phone call with Rufus proved to be a whole lot more difficult. The older hunter at first denied to even know who or what Dean was talking about and even when he had sworn on God, his father's ashes and Sammy's life that he didn't plan to do anything to the Trickster deity, Rufus was still very reluctant about giving him the information he sought. In the end Dean's charms proved to be sufficient and he had an address.

"It's just one of many joints she entertains throughout the world, but the bartender usually has a way of contacting her if something interesting happens. She likes to keep in the loop. Don't screw this up, Dean or the apocalypse will be the least of your worries, understood?"

"Completely, thanks Rufus."

Instead of an answer Dean just got a click.

Three and a half hours later Dean and Sam entered a small waterhole. It looked exactly like the kind of bar a hunter would like to crash when he was in town, it was low profile, reasonably clean and good or at least OK food to affordable prices. Even the music was tolerable, not the kind of rock Dean would have chosen, but neither country nor pop that would have make his ears bleed.

The two brothers walked over to the bar. The guy behind it was a middle aged man in a Dylan t-shirt, polishing a glass.

"So what can I get you guys?"

Dean put up his best on-a-case-acting-friendly-with-the-locals-smile up. "Actually we're looking for Nancy. It's been a while so I'm not sure if she still works here …"

The bartender grinned "Nancy owns this joint, man. Why don't you two enjoy a beer, while I check if she's got time for you."

Dean took the offered bottle and took a deep gulp. Sam held his bottle but refrained from drinking.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Dean?"

"For the last time Sammy, until you've got a better idea – shut up."

"Well if that isn't interesting, a couple of plain guys, I've never before seen in my life just walks into my joint and asks after me. What brings you boys here?"

Dean was surprised. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but the woman with the ebony skin, who stood as tall as him, certainly wasn't it. She wore jeans and a plaid shirt over a Stones t-shirt and had her hair in a pony tail. She didn't look half bad – the way the shirt hugged her body in all the right places, but what really sold her to Dean, was the amused gleam in her eye and her wicked grin.

"We're looking for someone," Sam explained watching her wearily.

"And found someone, you have."

Dean couldn't believe his ears. "Dude, you're quoting Star Wars at us? Under different circumstances I'd say I'm in love."

Her laughter was warm and light and reminded Dean of all the fun times he'd ever had in his life.

"Look," he started "we're searching for Gabriel and I've got it on good authority that you're able to help."

Something shifted in her stance, she was still smiling, but instead of amusement he now couldn't shake the impression that she was tense, even if she hid it pretty well.

"Who?" Her pitch was perfect just the right amount of confusion, curiosity and not-really-caring. If he hadn't known she was a goddamn Trickster he would have believed her for sure.

"Gabriel," Sam pitched in, "the archangel, who told us to get a hold of you if we needed to contact him."

Her head was slightly tilted as she looked at the younger Winchester. "You're a good liar – probably get a lot of practice. But he wouldn't give two humans my address. If he wanted you to be able to contact him, he would just put the two of you on his priority channel, then all you would have to do is pray to him. Which he clearly hasn't done, which means he doesn't want to talk to you guys." She turned to the bar and grabbed some obscenely sweet strawberry liqueur and poured herself a generous glass full. "Look I don't know, what Gab has done to piss you off, but trust me – just forget about him."

"We're not going to hurt him …"

A burst of laughter interrupted Sam. "Course you're not, kid. But you might try."

"Look, lady – I won't deny that two out of three times we met him we tried to kill him, and he's done enough to seriously piss us off, but this time we really just want to talk to that son of a bitch."

"If I do call him and you use that kind of tone, it probably won't end well."

"Call him anyway," Sam said.

"And get you two killed – nope sorry, can't do that."

Dean sighed, who would've thought, that a pagan deity who tried not to get you killed, could be such a pain in the ass. Castiel was missing for over 72 hours now and he didn't have time for this shit.

"First – he won't kill us, trust me. He has some weird personal interest in the two of us. Second – even if he did kill us, I extremely doubt, that it would stick. Third – even if he does kill us and it is permanent, we take the full responsibility. So just call him already."

"Please," added Sam.

"And who should I tell him wants to see him?" She already had her cell in her hand.

"Sam and Dean Winchester."

Now every trace of amusement was gone from her face and voice, her fingers typed into the phone anyway as she spoke. "Winchester? As in the Seal-breaker brothers?"

"Sammy, Deano!" Gabriel had appeared right behind the two of them.

"Gabriel! I don't mind if you use our friendship from time to time, but this? I foster contacts to gods and demi-gods, demons and deities, not to speak of the odd hunter who stumbles into my life. Do you have any idea what some of them would do to me, if they found out the midwives of the apocalypse walked into one of my bars? This world might only have a couple of months left, but I would like to enjoy them quietly, thank you very much."

"I'm sorry, Nans." And to Dean and Sam's complete surprise, Gabriel sounded as if he meant it. "I certainly didn't send them your way."

"Cas once mentioned Nancy, when he talked about you."

Gabriel turned to Dean and something in his face made him regret, that he had drawn the archangel's attention upon himself.

"You mutton-head not only listened to the little bro, but actually remembered it and put it to use? I'm impressed. That had to be your one brilliant flash of wit you get this decade." He turned towards the pagan deity. "I'm going to get them out of your hair. And if someone asks, you can tell them, they didn't leave here on their own power, and that something really dreadful happened to them, without even lying too much."

"As if that was my problem." She just shook her head at Gabriel's grin. "Just get them out of here and try not to get me killed until this apocalypse of yours is over."

"It's not my apocalypse." Gabriel clarified grumpily as he snapped his fingers.

Dean and Sam found themselves in two really big, really comfy, cushion chairs. They were unable to move because of the bonds holding them in place, but at least they were comfortable. The huge room they were in was empty and barren except for their two chairs and a table against which leaned an obviously pissed archangel, his arms crossed over his chest.

"So? What do you want from me? You went out of your way to make an old friend annoyed with me and I can't say I'm happy about that. On the other hand I haven't been your biggest fan since you started this whole mess, so we can just add it to the list, can't we?"

"We're not exactly your groupies either, Gabe."

"Yet you sought me out, Deano. So want to explain why?"

"Cas is missing."

What surprised Sam the most was the way Gabriel's face softened.

"So he hasn't returned yet?"

_Gabriel was in the living-room of his current apartment enjoying ice-cream cake and the latest rerun of Cheers after a completely ordinary workday. He liked working as a janitor. The work was simple in the intellectual department, which left him a lot of time to watch the people around him, and there was a certain kind of satisfaction in a job well done. Sure he probably wouldn't enjoy this life as much, if he actually had to live on the meager salary they paid him, but he didn't. _

_'Ah the perks of being an archangel.'_

_He was just about to summon himself some blonde, when his "cell phone" rang._

_A rather ingenious idea by Anansi really, to bind the invocation rituals to call upon a Trickster – or an angel in his case – into this modern communication device. It was a lot faster and less messy than slaughtering a black goat every time._

_When the old spider called, Gabriel jumped. He might have a lot of bad character traits, but he was loyal to his friends – especially those, who'd stumbled upon his true identity yet never ratted him out to his peers._

_He appeared right next to Nancy in the backrooms of one of her joints. She was fuming._

"_He popped in a few moments ago and asked after the game. Went in and almost immediately started a fight with Gurzil. Get your kid brother out of here before they demolish everything."_

_Gabriel was nothing if not quick on his feet. He burst into the door Anansi had implied. There was a group of four players trying to melt into the back wall as well as Castiel and a pissed of war deity lying on the ground, where a suddenly well greased floor had landed them. The archangel used his powers to keep his brother silent throughout the exchange, that followed_

"_Loki!"_

"_And hello to you, too fellas." He grinned at the assembled deities and humans. "Say what's this commotion about then? I drop in for a nice little game with some friends and find this." His hand included the whole scene before him in a sweeping gesture. "I thought we all knew and agreed upon the 'No fighting on any of Nancy's premises' rule?"_

"_He started it." Gurzil protested._

"_Did I ask, who started this? Look at him and look at yourself. An angel all but powerless, cut off from heaven, and a mighty war god. But 'he started it'."_

_Anansi stepped into the room behind him._

"_They're both idiots. Why don't you take the bird boy away, while I take care of the regular," she suggested calmly._

_Gabriel sighed for good measure. "I'm not in the mood for poker anymore anyway," he agreed and vanished, taking Castiel with him._

_As Anansi took away Gurzil she overheard some whispers behind her. It was widely known in their circles, that Loki wasn't happy about the whole Judo-Christian apocalypse business and that a pissed off Loki was no fun to be around. The consensus seemed to be, that they were all glad, that they weren't in the angel's shoes right now._

_Gabriel and Castiel materialized inside the archangel's living-room. Gabriel loosened his grip on the younger, only stopping him from zapping out._

"_So care to tell me, what all that was about?"_

_Castiel glared at him. "It doesn't matter."_

"_Oh I beg to differ, you bursting into a pagan safe haven, starting a fight with a Berber war god, pissing off __my__ friends. I think that matters. So spit it out."_

_Instead of answering, Castiel attacked him. He almost landed a punch, but Gabriel was fast. He dodged the younger angel's fist._

"_What the hell..." _

_Castiel pulled his blade and swung it wildly. The archangel took a few steps back but the younger launched himself at Gabriel and sliced his arm._

"_Ouch!" _

_Castiel flew against the wall behind him. _

"_That stung, kid. And you ruined one of my favorite shirts. Coming after me with that toothpick is a bit suicidal don't you think? You'd need a different blade for an archangel." _

_Castiel just glared at him. _

"_You attacking me – that hurts, Cas. I think I'm going to need some comfort food."_

_Gabriel went over to his kitchen table helping himself to a generous offer of the chocolate covered cream cake sitting there. Plate and fork in hand he turned towards Cas._

"_Sit!"_

_The younger angel was helplessly forced to follow the command, he was slung into Gabriel's raggedy couch. The archangel sat down at the other end piercing a piece of cake on his fork and putting it into his mouth._

"_Mmmh – this is good. Want some?"_

"_No."_

"_Your loss. Now what the hell has gotten into you, Cas?" Gabriel's tone was almost pleading and Castiel lowered his gaze in shame._

"_It doesn't matter."_

_The archangel's eyes narrowed. He had tried to be nice, really tried, but his patience had limits._

"_You attacked me in my own home, Castiel. You will tell me what's going on here and if I hear 'it doesn't mater' from you one more time, then I swear to Daddy I will give you a spanking, understood?"_

_Cas turned his head away. "It doesnmmmmph."_

_A piece of duct tape shut him of mid-sentence._

"_You know what – fine. I'll get you to talk sooner or later, but in the meantime I will enjoy this chocolaty goodness in peace and quiet."_

_After that declaration Gabriel made a point of ignoring his gagged brother and enjoying his cake very slowly. After finishing the first slice he got up and fetched himself a second one which he ate sitting on the couch as well._

"_At least suicide by archangel is a new one," Gabriel mumbled between two bites. "Too bad I won't let myself be used that way."_

_He was contemplating whether or not he should get himself another slice, when he decided, that his baby brother might have had enough._

"_Castiel," the warmth in his voice finally did it. He saw the crack in the carefully constructed armor of anger the younger one had put on. "I'm going to remove the tape now and then I want you to tell me what happened." He reached up with his fingers to Castiel's face, "I need to know why you are hurting so much."_

_Without further ado he ripped the tape away. He could have snapped it out of existence instead, but he felt the younger deserved at least a little punishment. Gabriel sat back and releases the hold on his brother, giving Castiel room to breathe. Just when he thought he might have to put on a little pressure, Cas finally began to speak._

"_Sam and Dean died."_

_Gabriel didn't know how to feel. The Winchesters had been nice enough boys and he knew how important they were to Castiel, but with them out of the way, the apocalypse had to be postponed. So no matter if he liked them personally, he couldn't help the the sense of relief washing over him. But Castiel continued._

"_They were sent back of course."_

_Well so much for his relief. Of course Michael and his cronies wouldn't let a simple thing like death stand in the way of their plans._

"_But not before they spoke to Joshua."_

_Now that was a sentence full of potential if there ever was one. It hung between them, waiting to be unleashed. Gabriel was almost too afraid to touch it. From here it could go either way, and Gabriel really didn't want to know. He coughed._

"_Does he still …?"_

"_Apparently." Castiel didn't sound happy about it. "He made it very clear, that god not only knows about this whole mess, but that he doesn't care. He wants us to back off."_

_Gabriel gulped at the obvious pain in Castiel's voice, now clearly visible in his eyes as well as his grace. He was next to his brother in a heartbeat and pulled him into an embrace. He held his arms protectively around the younger although the height of his vessel didn't make things exactly easy. Then he did something he hadn't done in a long time. He pulled his wings fully into the material plane and used them to shield himself and Castiel from the rest of the world._

_The younger was still unused to his vessel and his reactions didn't translate as naturally and unfiltered as they did in Gabriel. Nevertheless tears streamed down his human face as he let himself be held. _

_Gabriel used his grace to calm his brother on more than just the physical level. He let their essences touch, to remind the younger, that he was not alone, to let him feel, that someone cared. And he tried his best to keep his own hurt and confusion hidden, as not to disturb his brother further._

_They sat there for at least an hour without talking before Gabriel gently tapped against Castiel's forehead and sent him to sleep. He carefully untangled himself from his brother and lay him on the couch. He then walked over to his table to help himself to another slice of cake and the biggest 'Flying Kangaroo' he'd ever conjured indoors._

_Being told to 'Back off' by God was enough to drive any angel suicidal let alone one as devout as little Castiel. Angels didn't need to sleep, but Gabriel was pretty sure that his younger brother could use the rest._

"_It's been a long, long time since I did this, and an even longer one, since I got any reaction, so I'm not sure, if you're even listening … I love you father. And I'm sure you have your reasons, you usually have. I hope one day you'll come back and maybe explain them – even if it means I'll be in deep trouble. But you should know one thing: reasons or not, I'm going to punch you in the face for this one._

_Amen."_

_Gabriel took a deep gulp of the alcohol before him. Then he buried his face in his hands and cried._

_When Castiel came to, for a moment he was blissfully unaware of where he was and why. Then the memory came back and with it the exhaustion. His first instinct was to flee. But he couldn't Gabriel's power still held him bound to this place. A disturbingly normal and human apartment, now that he looked around. Gabriel was an enigma to him. Leaving heaven for this, yet never going the full distance by turning human like Anna did. Enjoying to play with mortal lives as a Trickster but still obviously harboring some kind of respect for them. And despite leaving everything behind, still caring enough to speak kindly to someone like Castiel. _

_Thinking of the last hour before he slept, Cas felt a deep sense of shame. It was true that the archangels stood higher in heaven's hierarchy than anyone safe god, it was true that they commanded the heavenly host and stood far above simple soldiers as he himself was one. But Cas also remembered that it was part of their role, part of what they were, to offer lower angels guidance, to teach them and take care of them. And Castiel had clung to that familiar comfort, to the sense of security it gave him. But if Joshua had taught him anything, then that it was all a lie, that it was nothing more than a crutch. Letting Gabriel help him had been his attempt to find a replacement for what he'd lost._

_When Gabriel entered the room, Castiel's desire to flee became overwhelming._

"_Let me go."_

_Gabriel let out a small sigh. "No."_

"_Please."_

"_Fine – on one condition: You promise me, that you won't go and start any fights with gods, demons, angels or whatever else."_

"_Gabriel …"_

"_I'm still not convinced that you aren't a danger to yourself, kiddo. So you can either stay here, with me as your personal babysitter – or you make that promise. Your choice."_

_His brother still cared for him. He couldn't stand the thought of that right now. He needed to get away. It wasn't fair, that the only one who seemed to care the way he should, should be a runaway-archangel turned Trickster and therefore Castiel found Gabriel's presence unbearable._

"_Fine – I promise." His eyes darted around the room avoiding to look directly at Gabriel. He wasn't lying, he would keep his promise, everything to get him away from here._

_Gabriel opened his mouth as if to say something, but obviously thought better of it. He snapped his fingers and Castiel felt the metaphorical leash falling off of him. He was gone faster than a thought._

"What the hell do you know about this?" Dean was ready to strangle someone right now and if that certain someone happened to be an archangel, then he wouldn't complain either.

"Enough to know, that you two geniuses told him what Joshua told you." Gabriel didn't completely hide the accusation in his voice.

"And since when is the fact that god is a dick our fault?"

Sam wished he could step between the two and get them to cool off. The only thing he could do right now though was to chime in as the voice of reason and distract his brother and the archangel from going at each others' throats.

"Have you spoken to Cas?"

The fight immediately left Dean's shoulders, he wanted to know the answer to this far more than he wanted to attack Gabriel.

"Why the hell, do you two even care that much? What is he to you other than a handy ally in your insane, guilt driven plan to kill Lucifer?"

"He's been missing for three days now. We tried to give him time, but we worry. He doesn't answer his phone and doesn't call back. And he is our friend you son of a bitch."

And then Gabriel saw something in Dean's soul. Thankfully the senses of angels weren't as limited as those of humans. He wanted to not like the damn Winchesters, but they obviously really did care about his little brother.

"He left here about 24 hours ago." The bonds that had held Sam and Dean disappeared. Gabriel threw one freshly created bottle of beer at each of them. "I did what I could, but the kid is seriously distraught."

"Kid?" Sam was a bit disoriented by the sudden change in direction. "Cas is millennia old."

Gabriel let himself drop on his couch. They were all in his apartment now and the Winchesters dealt amazingly well with the change of scenery. "You're point being?"

"Not important," Dean interrupted, "can you find him?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Of course, but I doubt that he wants to see either of us right now."

Dean recognized a certain weariness in the archangel. Like in their last encounter, Gabriel showed that this actually concerned him and wasn't just a game. And like that time while Dean could emphasize with Gabriel, he also realized a certain cowardice.

"Excuse me? I don't care if Cas wants someone, he needs someone so screw what he wants."

"And you are an expert on what my little brother needs?" There was a smirk playing at Gabriel's lips. "Please enlighten me, what does he need? How can you make it OK, that the center of his world told him to 'Fuck off'?"

"You can't. But you don't leave him alone either."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "Didn't you just tell me, that you tried to 'give him time'? – No, you know what, forget it. Let's go and look what the kid's been up to."

The three of them appeared on the top of some hill, watching over a group of deer grazing in the half light of dawn. Castiel was standing with his back to them.

"I'm keeping my promise Gabriel, so leave me alone."

"He's just our taxi."

On hearing Dean's voice Castiel turned around.

"You." His eyes went from Dean to Sam and back again. Gabriel couldn't help but notice how he tried to pull himself more upright, how he buried his vulnerability.

"You've got us worried, Cas," Sam said. His brother was far too occupied with staring at the angel, making sure he was OK. When Dean finally managed to get some words out, his voice was a bit hoarse.

"It's been three days."

"I've slept for some of it. And I need time to think."

Gabriel winced as he saw Sam's and Dean's face at that statement. "Now if that isn't heartfelt."

His acidly tone had the desired effect. Castiel glared at him, before turning to Sam and Dean. "I'm sorry, but I do need time to deal with this. If you are in trouble and need me, just call."

Invisible to the human eye but obvious to Gabriel were the ripples of barely contained pain running through Castiel's grace. He wouldn't be able to hold it back for long and he didn't want either of them to be there when he lost it.

Dean seemed to sense at least part of it and showed some remarkable empathy when he was willing to back off.

"So you're going to at least answer your phone?"

Castiel nodded. "I give you that promise."

Dean nodded, too, accepting Castiel's statement.

"Is there something I should promise you, too," he asked Sam.

The younger Winchester slightly shook his head. "Just call us if you need something."

Dean turned to Gabriel. "Would you mind getting us out of here?"

Sam and Dean found themselves in front of Nancy's bar, next to the Impala. When they next called Castiel a couple of days later, he appeared – albeit drunk as a horse, keeping his promise and saving their asses from the whore of Babylon.

Gabriel went off to follow his own little plan.


	5. Chapter 5

author's note: This chapter doesn't feature Castiel but is focused on what Gabriel is up to during "99 Problems". But it features our favourite demon as compensation :) PLease let me know how you like it.

* * *

It was about time that Gabriel got active in this whole mess. He'd never spilled the blood of one of his brothers and he certainly didn't plan to start now, but if he didn't do something, then either Michael or Lucifer would kill the other. Or the Winchesters would find a way to kill them both. Which simply wasn't acceptable. They were god's archangels – his most powerful servants – and what a fine band of brothers they made: the righteous prick, the spoiled brat, the brainless follower and the coward. But there was no way that Gabriel would lose one of his brothers if he had any say in the matter.

So he had to take steps.

And have a brilliant idea how to stop them, so he knew what steps to take.

Fortunately for the world he was quite brilliant and he did have an idea. It was still a bit vague but with a little bit of research it might become a full grown plan.

The convent was a depressing place. So many violent (and to Gabriel at least) meaningless deaths. And it was practically bursting with residual energy: The first demon dying, Lucifer's cage opening, his brother entering the world all that had left traces.

There was more, but it was all muddled so Gabriel couldn't be sure, yet if he had to take a guess, he'd say that Lucifer had been still vessel-less and had thrown a fit.

It really wasn't easy but the longer he looked at the energy residues before him, the better he was able to filter out information regarding the cage.

"And what the hell are you doing here?"

Gabriel turned around to find himself face to face who had entered the chapel behind him. Right now he was very glad, that he kept his grace hidden all the time. His brother's lackey wouldn't recognize him as what he was.

"Ah you know just sightseeing. If things work out the way it seems, this place will be crawling with tourists soon." He gave the demon his best Trickster smile.

The short man with the thinning black hair watched him carefully. "Loki?"

"The one and only." He had no idea who the demon before him was, he had never seen the vessel before and with the whole background energies it was impossible to really look at the creature inside the man.

"It's been so long, I didn't recognize you at first. But you haven't changed much since Prague."

Since he mentioned Prague, it had to be... "Crowley."

The demon grinned and Gabriel couldn't help but smile. Sure Crowley was a demon. But like himself he was a pragmatic and if he wasn't currently on a killing spree, he was quite entertaining company. Gabriel wasn't sure how he felt about Crowley, but he knew, that Loki liked him. – Talk about multiple personalities.

"Time treated you well."

"Well Lillith' death was quite the career opportunity," Crowley admitted.

But Gabriel realized a certain tension behind that calm comment. "But not everything's fine."

The demon shot him a calculating look. "How many demon friends do you have Laufeyson?"

"Present company excluded? None. I really don't mix too well with your pantheon, Crowley. Too many pricks."

The other nodded. While he wouldn't count Loki as a friend and was far too intelligent to believe anything a Trickster god told him without a healthy dose of distrust, the Norse deity was a friendly acquaintance and he was ready to believe him in this particular point.

"Let's just say – I'm not too happy with the company policy at the moment."

Now that earned him a raised eyebrow from Gabriel. And although Crowley was far too good a manipulator of people himself to fall for the expecting silence, he wanted to talk to someone who wasn't a complete moron for a change and he decided to take the opportunity. As far as he was concerned the pagan deity was probably his most trustworthy contact right now.

"Sometimes I think I'm about the only one in the nine circles right now, who bases his opinions and plans on facts not fanatical religious devotion."

"So you don't believe your side will win?"

"I don't believe that there is anyone _on_ my side but this one charming, charismatic bastard named Crowley. And while I'm sure he'll do his best to make us come out atop, I'm not sure how successful he'll be."

Crowley seemed tired to Gabriel. "You're on the run."

The demon shrugged. "Not much good in being 'King of the Crossroads' when you have to hide from virtually every other demon in existence."

This peeked Gabriel's curiosity. "What did you do?"

"Giving the damn Colt to the Winchesters. And then it didn't fucking work."

Gabriel let out a low whistle. A demon helping Sam and Dean in their quest to kill his brother, no wonder Crowley was in trouble. "The Colt was never meant to work on the likes of Lucifer."

"Great – thanks. Any more brilliant insights you want to share that are absolutely, bloody useless to me NOW?"

Gabriel decided to skip his 'I could have told you so', Crowley was obviously not in the mood. "What are you doing here of all places? Aren't you afraid the devil has this place under observation?"

The demon snorted. "I took out the guard permanently before dropping in. No one will be checking in on him for a couple of days at least, so I'm safer here right now than about anywhere else. The background energy levels will keep me hidden from prying eyes without me even investing in my own protection. And maybe just maybe I'll be able to think of something I can do to stop the world from ending and one or the other bloody angel taking over." He turned to Gabriel smiling. "And if you even think of ratting me out, I'm going to find a way to skin you alive."

Gabriel put on a fake shocked look. "Moi?" His face grew serious. "How good are you in analyzing residual energy traces?"

"Well far be it from me to boast – I am the most modest and humble demon you will be able to find in this whole convent after all – but I'm pretty damn good."

Gabriel bit his tongue, he wouldn't draw any unwanted attention to his own aura then. He instead pointed at something very peculiar he had noticed in the energy traces of the portal. "See that?"

Crowley nodded.

"It reminds me of something, but I can't quite identify it."

The demon grinned "What do I get if I'll tell you?"

And despite himself Gabriel found that he was grinning, too. He had been worrying far too much lately, about Lucifer and Michael, about Castiel and their father. He had thought a lot about Dean Winchester's accusation and had decided that it was time to stand up to his family. But he'd be damned if he did it anybody's way but his own.

Crowley might be a demon and therefore technically one of the bad guys, but like Gabriel he acted true to his nature and he had a certain style. And Gabriel, the Trickster also known as Loki knew how to deal with demons offering a deal, especially if they weren't completely malicious.

"I'm not human, Crowley – I have no soul to sell you."

The demon chuckled. "Nor would you be stupid enough to sell it."

"So what do you want?" The angel was really curious, what the other would ask for.

"An information and a promise."

"You're going to give me one information – you shouldn't be expecting more in return."

"Since when do demons promise fair deals? Besides, you could probably get the information in other ways if you were thorough and put some work into it, so see it as markup for your laziness."

"OK I'll bite – what information and what promise?"

"I want to know, what you want with the information I'm giving you."

Gabriel wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he asked about the second half of the demon's price anyway. "And what's the promise?"

"If by some miracle you and me survive all this and the apocalypse gets averted, you're going to buy me a beer at a crossroads bar."

The second half of the price made the deal acceptable to Gabriel. "Sounds good."

It was a good thing Gabriel had been around demon's for a long time and knew their ways, otherwise he might have been a bit shocked, when Crowley moved close and pulled him in to seal their transaction. Since he'd been expecting it he put a tremendous effort in making the kiss worth Crowley's time.

As the demon pulled slowly away, Gabriel noticed that his pupils were dilated and he licked his lips, savoring the taste. The angel allowed himself a small self-satisfied smile, knowing that he still 'got it'.

"It's the signature of Death's ring. If you look over there you'll see traces of Pestilence's, War's and Famine's. The traces are hard to identify, since they are very, very old and they were broken here, but it's definitely that."

This was better than Gabriel had expected, sure he needed to confirm it, but this might be the way to stop the apocalypse.

"So?" The demon looked at him expectantly.

"I like this world as much as you do, Crowley. I want to find a way to stop its destruction. To do that I need to understand what happened here. And right now that beer isn't looking as impossible as it did five minutes ago."

He zapped out leaving behind a slightly confused demon, who felt more hopeful than he had since the failure of the Colt.


	6. Chapter 6

author's note: Takes place right after 5.18 "Point of no return", a short one before the final chapter.

* * *

Gabriel shouldn't be here. His plan was set in motion and it wouldn't work if the Winchesters had the slightest inkling, that not all was what it seemed. And the plan was important. It was the only way to stop Michael and Lucifer from fighting each other to the death and maybe safe them all. So he absolutely shouldn't risk it for anything. If Castiel saw through him, then he would surely tell Sam and Dean, so the kid had to be kept in the dark, too. He should stay away.

The only problem was, that Castiel was his baby brother. And he tended to get himself into trouble. So here he was looking down at his brother's broken body lying unconscious in a field miles from civilization.

"Oh Cas, what have you done, now?"

He moved to take a closer look and noticed the cuts on his brother's chest. They were clearly self inflicted and formed an Enochian banishment rune. There were other cuts and bruises all over him, but those cuts were the worst. And as long as they stayed there, Cas wouldn't be able to heal.

"You stupid, stupid fool. I should leave you lying here on your own, just to teach you a lesson in self-preservation."

Castiel wasn't awake of course, so it didn't really matter what he said, or the fact that his eyes clearly betrayed how deeply worried he was about the younger. Gabriel walked over to him and began to rip the shirt away to get a clearer look. The cuts weren't too deep, but they had bled quite a bit and the rune had worked its magic. To banish every angelic presence. While it was carved into the body of an angel. Under normal circumstances the rune left the caster unaffected, but by carving into his own flesh, Castiel had basically short circuited the energies. And his vessel had been the conductor.

Gabriel summoned a clean, wet, soft cloth and began to wash the dried blood away. Castiel was so out of it, that he didn't react in any way to his brother's touch, although even the softest contact probably would cause him pain if he was awake. After cleaning the blood away, rendering the rune powerless for now, Gabriel began to heal the cuts on the torso. Because of the very nature of the Enochian symbol it wasn't exactly easy, but the archangel was not only powerful, but knew a few tricks, so he managed to eventually erase all traces of the rune.

After he'd finished the basic first aid he looked at his brother again. Now that the rune was gone, Castiel's healing power should take over, which meant that he could leave. Only it didn't. Castiel obviously had succeeded in banishing his own powers for good. Since they didn't return after the rune vanished, they would very probably never do so, leaving Castiel helpless.

Gabriel looked over his brother searching very hard for traces of his grace, his power or even the immaterial wings, but could find nothing to suggest he had an angel before him. It was still Castiel in there, not just the vessel, but he had turned completely human.

Which meant, he wouldn't be able to heal all by himself, lying out here in some field. Gabriel touched his brother lightly, he put just enough of his own power there to make sure Castiel would survive. His throat was unexpectedly tight, but he refused to let anything show. He couldn't be seen with Castiel but he could bring him somewhere, where he would get help.

A shrimping boat off Delacroix caught his attention as the sailors were all good, god-fearing people, who wouldn't think twice about helping someone in need and at least two of them had basic first aid knowledge. It was remote enough, that there would be no big outcry about suddenly appearing unconscious bodies and close enough to civilization to get Cas to a hospital fast.

He zapped Castiel away. It would be weeks, maybe months before his brother would wake and then he himself would be dead, his plan in full motion.


	7. Chapter 7

author's note: Final chapter, takes place a week after the final confrontation at the end of season 5. The whole rest of the story grew as a kind of background for this chapter.

* * *

A week after the final confrontation Castiel finally made time to wrap up some loose ends. He was needed in Heaven but he was needed on Earth, too – even if it was just for the fact that no one else would feel obligated to care.

Dean was with Lisa. They hadn't parted on the best of terms and Castiel regretted it, but a promise to an all-but-dead brother and heavenly responsibilities stood between them. There was nothing he could do about it but check in to make sure Dean and his new family were doing alright.

Sam was out of his reach. On the rare occasions that the angel still found himself praying to his father he prayed for the younger Winchester, who had willingly sacrificed himself to protect all Creation from Castiel's brothers.

Bobby could look after himself – although the angel feared he might have to look into the whole Crowley business sooner or later.

Which left Chuck – prophet of the Lord.

* * *

Castiel materialized his vessel inside the prophet's home.

"Chuck?"

The angel looked around the chaotic house. Everything in the living-room looked as if the man had just left. The computer was still on and a couple of pages were still in the printer. But the bottle of beer next to the monitor had stood untouched for a long time and a fine layer of dust covered everything – including the keyboard. He concluded that the man hadn't been here for days – probably since the day of Michael's and Lucifer's confrontation.

There was no sign of a struggle and no remnants of angelic or demonic intervention that Cas could tell. He let his eyes wander around the room but could find no clue as to what had happened to Chuck.

He was about to leave, when the last page in the printer caught his eye. He pulled out the sheets of paper and read through the prophet's account of their last battle not believing, what his eyes told him.

"Gabriel."

* * *

With the blink of an eye Castiel was at the Stull Cemetery, Lawrence. He could see the tracks of their battle, the ground still shone brightly to his angelic senses at the place where the cage had opened. Cas turned his back to the blinding light and started to search the bushes for any kind of hint, any kind at all.

He searched for almost an hour, simply denying to give up when he finally found it. A small shred of paper under the leaves on the ground. It was too small a piece to read anything of significance, but Castiel was an angel – he recognized it as what it was: a part of a paper napkin with part of a restaurant or club logo. It had been touched by one of his brothers but it had traveled here by mortal means. Which meant his brother had walked here from a club in or near Lawrence.

Cas zapped from establishment to establishment until he found a strip joint which colors matched the ones on the scrap of paper in his fingers.

Entering the club he immediately saw _him_.

Gabriel sat at the far end of the bar cradling his cocktail and ignoring the beautiful woman at his arm. How far the archangel was gone, showed itself in the fact that he barely held his camouflage together. To Castiel's senses Gabriel's grace was clearly visible, leaking out around the aura of his vessel although the older angel obviously tried to keep it in.

Cas went over to the bar. His gaze had to be pretty intense since the lady fled Gabriel's side before he reached the two of them.

"We thought you were dead."

The archangel's smirk was somewhere between self-contempt and satisfied arrogance. "That was the plan, kiddo."

"Gabriel."

Something of his feelings must have shown in his voice, the archangel looked directly at him and his face sobered up.

"Let's take a walk, Cas."

Without his own contribution the younger angel found himself next to Gabriel at the shore of a lake a couple of miles away from the next human settlement.

"What happened? Dean and Sam told me that you died."

Gabriel didn't look at him but started to scuffle along the beach, kicking up sand. Castiel fell into step beside him.

"I tricked Lucifer. It took an added level of subterfuge, because he knew I'd be lying. But his arrogance was soooooo huge – it was actually pretty easy. And I wasn't alone of course." Gabriel started to hum 'I get by with a little help of my friends'.

"Mercury, Ganesha, Baldur – they're alive?"

Now Gabriel's smirk could only be described as full of himself as he wriggled his eyebrows. "Sometimes I wonder if his time in the cage has affected our brother's intelligence. He didn't even use mistletoe when he went after Baldur and still thinks he killed him. Anyone who knows anything about that annoying boy scout deity knows that."

"But Lucifer surely is strong enough to kill a pagan god."

Gabriel's mood swung from amused to annoyed. "Don't make the same stupid, arrogant mistakes our brothers fall for, Castiel. There are rules and not just our rules. Just because we're powerful doesn't mean we can ignore them," he snapped.

Castiel lowered his gaze, chastised by his older brother. He wanted to ask more questions but thought it better to let Gabriel pick his own pace of telling his story.

"Their original plan was stupid, it wouldn't have worked. Besides I couldn't let them harm the Winchesters, could I? At that point it was a piece of luck really, that Kali had guessed my true identity – it made them listen closely. And when even Baldur agreed that my plan was the best to secure their continued survival, I had won them over. Mercury 'betrayed' us and brought Luci, so that he could 'kill' us all. They all lend me part of their power to give the illusion more substance and voila: No one tries to find and kill someone they already believe dead.

But the best part of course was my little goodbye letter to Sammy and Deano."

Castiel had seen the film. Porn as Gabriel's last message to the survivors. He had watched it over and over again. The profanity of the sexual acts disturbed him, but it were the last words of his older brother and once he started he couldn't stop, because if he did the last tiny part of the archangel would be taken away from him.

"It was very … you."

"I had fun recording it," Gabriel admitted, "But the important part was, that those two chuckle-heads _**listened**_ after they thought I died. They finally let go of their plan to kill Lucifer."

"It was a futile plan from the beginning."

Gabriel shook his head. "Completely unlike your plan to find Daddy." He lifted his hand to stop Castiel's reply and turned to fully face the younger one. "Those two stubborn idiots are too thick to recognize when something is impossible and because they are so incredibly, terribly, ingeniously _human_ they do succeed where angels fail." He paused gnawing his lip, struggling with his next words. "I … I couldn't, Cas. I couldn't let them kill our brother."

The younger angel wasn't sure if the older just lost part of his control or if he let the younger see behind his walls, but the flare of love and despair that rippled through Gabriel's grace was unmistakable.

A part of Castiel wanted to turn away from his brother, wanted to reproach him for taking the cowardly road again, for forcing Sam and Dean to make the hard decisions, for making them sacrifice everything when it was the angels' mess to begin with, when he at least could have helped.

But he also remembered Gabriel's kind words when they had first really talked after the TV show incident. How Gabriel had been his one link to Heaven's blessing after he'd rebelled. The archangel was far from perfect but he had never fallen and his approval had meant much to Castiel especially after he and Anna ended up on different sides, after that devastating message from Joshua. So how could he turn from Gabriel now that the older clearly needed him?

"It's not in your nature." Castiel stood closer to Gabriel, so that the shoulders of their vessels touched, so that their wings intertwined in that higher reality that they kept part of their selves in.

"Weird isn't it? I do judge. I do punish the humans I find wanting. In the old days I often dealt out father's punishments and yet I can't stand the thought of a world without my brothers."

"I do remember. I also remember that you were more merciful than most, certainly more so than Raphael or Michael."

"They were different after Lucifer fell – but you would hardly remember before. They weren't half bad back in the olden days. But things changed, not much more than 'dicks with wings' now as our friend Deano puts it." There was an echo of that old mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he continued. "Not that he would think any different about me now – probably would have a couple of choice attributes to put to my name if he found out that I'm still around."

"His little brother – both of his little brothers are trapped in Lucifer's cage and you could have stopped it." Castiel couldn't quite keep the reproach out of his statement.

"Maybe but I doubt it. There was only one thing that could stop this apocalypse and that was Choice. Father's great gift to his most beloved children. I've been working on this whole free will thing for centuries now and still even a mere child could teach me about it." Gabriel turned to his younger brother. "You're actually doing pretty well, especially considering how little practice you've got."

"Thank you."

"For what it's worth: I am sorry about what happened to Sam. Neither he nor Adam deserved what happened to them. And I'm sorry that you lost your friends."

"I could use your help in bringing order back to Heaven."

"No." Castiel flinched at the vehemence in Gabriel's voice. "Raphi is still there and you don't want us to clash. We just got rid of Michael and Lucifer and maybe, hopefully a couple of centuries in the time-out zone together will give them a chance to reconcile their differences. And you want the two remaining archangels to start another war? That's what started this whole mess to begin with. I won't have a part in this."

Gabriel started to walk away from Castiel his shoulders set.

"If you were there, Raphael might see reason."

"Hah! Believe me he won't. And when archangels fight the Seraphim and Cherubim, the Elohim and Ophanim they die."

"And you think no one will die if you don't join, Gabriel?"

Gabriel stopped in his tracks. "No – angels will die no matter what I do. But I won't have to be the one to kill them and maybe less will die. Plus your fight will be easier."

Now the older one had Castiel completely stumped. "How will anything be easier?"

"Don't you see it, Cas? A clear cut: Raphael, who clings to the old ways, representing the past, on one side and you, the poster child for choice, for free will among angels, representing the future. Another archangel would clearly just muddle things up."

"You talk as if rebellion against our father was a good thing."

Suddenly Gabriel was standing right next to him, gently knocking with his knuckles against Castiel's head.

"Hello anybody home here? – You never rebelled against or father, Cas. You made choices – after he clearly told you, that he wouldn't make them for you. You might have stood up against the people higher up in the food chain, but that's what he wanted. Daddy brought you back from the not-existent. Two times. He doesn't do that for children who angered him. You. Are. His. New. Favorite. Learn to live with it." He turned to walk away. "And for Daddy's sake let me drown my self-pity in a couple of cocktails while I mourn the loss of the most interesting mortal playthings I've had in centuries."

* * *

So this is it - I hope you liked it. I want to thank everyone again, who took the time to drop me a couple of nice words and maybe I'm going to see some of you again in "A Demon and an Angel walk into a bar", which will be Crowley/Gabe.


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